Romano-Egyptian Terracotta Oil Lamp with Eros

A finely made, coil-formed Nile silt clay, red-polished pottery vessel with elongated ovoid body, pointed base, rounded shoulder, and narrowing neck widening to a slightly everted rim; the upper section blackened through inverted firing, creating the characteristic black-topped finish of Upper Egyptian Predynastic ceramic production; the surface retaining a lustrous burnish with visible vertical polishing marks; accompanied by a display stand. 3.67 kg total, 40 cm (40.5 cm high including stand)



with Joe Gerena Fine Arts, New York, USA. Collection of Erich Spangenberg, Texas, 1980s. Fortuna Fine Arts Ltd, New York, USA. Wyvern Collection, acquired from the above on 20 March 2018. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13349-256959.

This is an exceptionally large Naqada II black-topped vessel; comparable large examples generally measure approximately 33–37 cm (e.g., Aberdeen Museums ABDMS003532, 36.5 cm; British Museum EA30966, 33.6 cm; National Museum of Ireland 1899:311, 36 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art 36.1.2, 35 cm), although most examples are significantly smaller. Black-topped vessels were hand-made from finely prepared Nile silt clay, often tempered and coated with a red hematite slip. Larger examples frequently took the form of hes-jars with tapered or pointed bases and narrowing necks and vases with rather more torpedo-like bodies, like this example, while others were made as beakers or wide bowls. Experimental studies suggest that the vessels were fired inverted, with their openings buried in sawdust or other organic material, producing the characteristic blackened rim and interior. After firing, their surfaces were carefully burnished to a high polish, leaving visible polishing marks. These vessels were used mainly in ritual and funerary contexts for the presentation and pouring of liquid offerings. Found chiefly in higher-status burials and cultic deposits, their distinctive red-and-black colour scheme was probably associated with Egyptian concepts of death, regeneration, and cyclical renewal, making them especially appropriate for funerary ceremonies and ritual activities.

Modelled seated on a tongue-shaped base, with simple facial detailing and a suspension loop to the back. 0.54 grams, 8 mm



Ex French art market, 1920s.

The goddess Bastet was believed to be the daughter of the sun god and was shown with the features of a lion up until about 1000 B.C., when she was first portrayed as a cat or human with a cat head. As the daughter of Ra, she was associated with the rage inherent in the sun god's eye, which was considered to be his instrument of vengeance. Her development into a cat goddess occurred during the New Kingdom, but did not fully develop until the Late Period. She was still associated with the destructive power of the sun and was shown on the prow of the solar boat, decapitating the evil serpent Apophis in the Book of the Dead. The maternal, protective and hunting characteristics of the cat are obvious in Bastet, and she was seen as a protector of pregnant women and young children. In the Pyramid Texts, she is invoked by the deceased king to act as his protector and to help him reach the sky to join the sun god; the king proclaims that Bastet is his mother and nurse. Like her counterpart, Sekhmet, Bastet has an aggressive side and, in a text from Karnak, Amenhotep II described his enemies being slaughtered like the victims of Bastet. The goddess had a shrine at Karnak, where she is known as the 'Lady of Asheru', which aligns her closely with the goddess Mut, the consort of Amun-Ra. Her most famous shrine was in the north-east Delta region, at Bubastis, and was known as Per-Bastet or 'the House of Bastet.' Herodotus describes the festival of Bastet as one of the most elaborate in all of Egypt and identifies her with the Greek Artemis. Cemeteries of cats have been excavated at Bubastis, and at Saqqara and Memphis.

Plano-convex in section with incised segmentation to the carapace, underside with two hatched avian figures; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 5.65 grams, 20 mm



From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.